7 Steps to Stick with Your Resolutions

How’s it going so far with those 2017 New Year’s resolutions? Have been knuckling down on them and making good progress? Maybe the going is slow and you’re barely holding on? Not to worry – you should know that you’re not alone! Here are a few tips for overcoming laziness and sticking with your resolutions …

Write your resolutions down!

If you still haven’t written down your resolutions, then now is the time to grab a piece of paper and get going. In spite of common practice, you don’t have to have everything set in stone on 1 January – you can also come up with resolutions and goals for the new year later on. The main thing is that you get some goals written down so that you have an overview of the direction you think you should be going this year.Less is more – don’t take on too much at one time. If you do, you risk losing focus and likely also any motivation you had soon after. If you notice that you’ve taken on too much for 2017, then it’s a good time to step back and consider which plans you really want to move forward with. How can you decide? Just answer these questions: How important is this intention for me? How much free capacity do I have? Which plans are more concrete, and which are still only ideas? Questions like this help you to set priorities and reach the success you’re after.

Have a plan!

Next come up with a plan, and decide how you’d like to move forward with your resolutions. Write down exactly what you would like to do to more forward. That way you can confirm whether or not you can actually pull off your resolution. It’s also true that fewer things can go wrong when you have a good plan in place, and you’re reinforcing your commitment to your goal at the same time. In addition, you won’t lose sight of the big picture. Here’s another idea: you could also write down exactly why whatever you’re doing is important to you. The answer will provide you with a source of motivation when the going gets tough

Set milestones!

Establish set milestones for yourself, and check your progress at least once per week. You could do this on Sunday evenings for example – just have another look at where you stand in relation to your desired outcomes. You can also make adjustments if you’ve made a resolution that doesn’t work for you anymore. You don’t have to push through with intentions that are turning out to not be a good fit. A part of the learning process is finding the right resolutions for you, and sometimes some tuning will be required to get them just right. If you do notice that you are just being lazy and not making progress on important things, that’s no reason to quit. Do the work. There will always be rough times, but if you overcome these you will be all the more proud of yourself afterwards.

Learn from setbacks!

Make use of the failures you encounter. Everything doesn’t always go as planned so be sure to learn from setbacks. Don’t throw in the towel so fast. Setbacks are important sources of information and can be helpful when it comes to making progress. You can have a look at our series of interviews if you’re looking for some motivation and inspiration. The most successful people have also experienced setbacks – the deciding factor in terms of success or failure is how they dealt with them.

Get support!

Get the support of your friends and family. Tell the people who know you best about the things you’re working on, and prepare your environment for getting things done. You’ll see just how important your surroundings can be when it comes to your success. Your friends are on your side, and they can provide you with help in more rocky periods. Let’s say that you are trying to smoke less: you could give your friend a call if you’re thinking about smoking another cigarette. Likewise, maybe he or she could provide that little extra push and get you out the door for the training run that you don’t really feel like doing.

Think positive!

Inject some positive thinking into your plans, for example instead of saying “I am not allowing myself to have a single piece of chocolate today”, say something like “Today I’m moving closer to my ideal weight and resisting temptation!” Be happy about all the possible things you can do to make progress, and keep an eye on the bigger goal. The more positively you formulate your goal, and also the individual steps you take toward it, the more likely it is that you will stick with your resolution. Be proud of yourself when you do!

Track your progress!

Record what you’ve done and track your progress. Whether you record what you do in written form or record things directly in Goalify is completely up to you. The important thing is that you regularly take note of how you’re doing in relation to your goal. Really be honest with yourself. Of course Goalify can support you with its regular reminders and motivational coaching, helping you to move you toward your New Year resolutions. How about making Goalify into a constant companion as you move toward your goals?

Whatever your resolutions are and however you want to reach them, we’re here to support you along the way! For more assistance, you can always write to me at hello@goalifyapp.com.